What is plagiarism, and how can you avoid it when writing a research paper?

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Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s ideas, words, or work as if they were your own. To avoid it when writing a research paper, you should attribute ideas with proper citations, use quotation marks for direct quotes when needed, and paraphrase information in your own words while still citing the source. Keeping careful notes or a running bibliography while you research helps you match ideas to their sources later and ensures you can cite accurately. This approach protects you from unintentional copying and shows where ideas come from, which is essential for academic integrity.

Copying online text with only a few word changes isn’t acceptable because the original author isn’t being credited, even if the words are altered. Citing every sentence regardless of source isn’t appropriate—you only cite information that comes from outside your own knowledge or from a source. Paraphrasing without citation remains plagiarism because the ideas are not your own and aren’t properly attributed.